Tuesday, August 28, 2012

We are billionaires, let Pakistanis suffer!

Dubai: HDS Tower in Cluster F of Jumeirah Lakes Tower is only one of the 34 story buildings that belong to the mighty HDS Group. The News Tribe learnt that several other buildings in Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Business Bay and International City, like the HDS Sunstar Towers, are also owned by the millionaire brothers, surprisingly Pakistanis.

The owners of HDS Group, Ali Dar and Hasnain Dar, are none other than the sons of former finance minister of Pakistan, Senator Ishaq Dar. It’s worth mentioning here that the elder son Ali Dar is also the son-in-law of Pakistan Muslim League’s leader Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif.

Apart from several real estate ventures, The HDS Group also launched HDS Rent a Car, JLT a month back in July 2012.

The uniqueness of the car rental company lies in its array of niche car manufacturers and models of cars unavailable to the market. HDS Rent a Car owns the 2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4, Mercedes Benz SLS 63 AMG Gullwing, apart from the more economy cars such as Peugeots and Renaults. Some of the many exotic, luxury and SUVs in the lineup are the the Ferrari Berlinetta F12 and the McLaren F1, and you can do the numbers yourself!

The owners from a ‘poor and starving’ country Pakistan, where the average monthly income for an individual is $41, are offering such exotic services in Dubai, which even the local Emiratis fail to afford.

Madhu Bhindari, the Indian Billionaire who invested money in Dubai with Pakistani politicians.

Sources further told The News Tribe that the story does not end here; another Finance Minister from the Nawaz Sharif Government, made hundreds of real estate transactions with Madhu Bhindari, an Indian billionaire entrepreneur, who is on a run-away from Dubai, after losing 150 million dirhams in the 2008 crisis. However, the finance minister’s buildings and investments are still there, earning a hefty income.

A Pakistani real estate agent, who claimed to carry out transactions for a serving government officer in Sindh Government, told The News Tribe that a lot of Pakistani bureaucrats and politicians have properties worth millions in Dubai.

“The son of a serving government officer from Sindh government invested a huge amount of money in real estate here in 2008, and I carried out transactions for him,” the agent claimed.

“Where are these politicians getting the money from?” asked a frustrated Pakistani in Dubai, who came to know that the building he lived in is owned by Ali and Hasnain Dar’s HDS Group.

“If they have billions of dollars and so much money, why is it not in Pakistan? These politicians talk about the welfare of Pakistani people, but all they can think about is themselves!”

Previously, Director Swiss Bank had stated that Pakistan has around 97 billion dollars only in Swiss Banks. But, it seems that Pakistani politicians and businessmen have more than 97 billion dollars outside Swiss Banks, invested in various countries and financial hubs like Dubai.

According to the Swiss Bank director, if the money is utilized for the welfare of Pakistan and its people, then Pakistan can make tax free budget for next 30 years, can create 60 million jobs, can carpet four lanes road from any village to Islamabad, provide endless power supply, every citizen can earn Rs. 20,000 salary for the next 60 years and there is no need to take loans from IMF or World Bank.